


Collateral Damage

by katling



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, He's not bad, Iron Man Flash Bang 2018, Not Wanda Friendly, Not terribly Steve friendly, Tony is done with these people, Vision is hurt, because being thrown through several floors is never good, just desperate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-05-14 19:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14776007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: When Vision is seriously hurt during Wanda's 'escape' from the Compound, Tony decides that he is done bending over backwards for people who keep hurting his kids.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this does make the assumption that not all of Vision's body is made of vibranium and that he is capable of getting physically injured.
> 
> This was written for the Iron Man Flash Bang over on tumblr for KahunaBurger's prompt - Wanda hurts a lot more than Vision's feelings, and Tony skips Spider-Man and just hits the Rogues like a massively pissed off bolt from the blue with Rhodey and some remote piloted suits. 
> 
> I hope I did it justice!

Events at the airport did not go how Steve expected. He’d planned for a fight, one he knew he was probably going to have to instigate and one that he had to win. Tony was compromised and while he didn’t want to hurt him, he had to protect Bucky and take care of the danger of the other Winter Soldiers. He couldn’t afford for them to be let loose. If they were, it would put Bucky at risk of being lumped in with them. No one would listen or care that Bucky was back to himself (mostly) and they’d kill him. Steve wasn’t going to let that happen and if that meant putting Tony down hard, well, he wouldn’t like it but he’d do it.

What he didn’t expect though was the sheer ferocity with which Tony attacked. There was no talking, no attempts to negotiate, nothing that they’d anticipated and had planned for as a way to give them time to locate Tony’s quinjet. None of that happened. Instead, Tony and Rhodes and what looked like half the Iron Legion came swooping in around the bulk of the airport, weapons at the ready, and before they knew what was happening, tiny darts were sprouting out of their chests and then they knew nothing.

****

Tony stood in front of the cells and waited with a sense of implacable anger for Rogers and his little band of idiotic ducklings to come round. Rogers and Wilson were in the cells to his left and Barton and Maximoff were to his right. The cells were unfortunately not set up for enhanced people but Rogers was wearing a set of handcuffs and shackles of Tony’s making that even he wouldn’t be able to break and after Tony left, a guard with more of the tranq darts would be situated at the entrance to take him down if he tried anything stupid. As for Maximoff, the collar wasn’t perfect but it worked and as long as she didn’t actively use her abilities, it wouldn’t hurt her. Pavlovian conditioning usually worked on most people with any sort of sense.

Barnes was upstairs, being assessed by a psychologist. A real one this time. He’d already told them about the other Winter Soldiers and had then added that he had something to tell Tony personally but that could wait until he’d dealt with these clowns.

Slowly, Rogers and the others woke and realised where they were and Tony waited out their initial exclamations of dismay and Wanda’s little tantrum. Finally, they fell silent and Rogers planted himself in front of the bars.

“Tony! You’ve got to let us out.”

“If you’re worried about Helmut Zemo and the Winter Soldiers, Barnes told us about them and Zemo has already been picked up at the Moscow airport and the Avengers have been contacted about going to the bunker in Siberia,” Tony said flatly. “Funny how easy that was when we actually _communicated_ with the _authorities_.”

Rogers looked taken aback for a moment then something furtive flickered across his face. Tony viewed that with a certain detached curiosity and wondered if it had something to do with whatever it was Barnes wanted to tell him.

Rogers opened his mouth to say something that Tony was sure was going to be pompous and self-righteous. He wasn’t interested in listening to it so he cut the man off.

“This is what’s going to happen now,” he said, his voice cold and implacable. “You are all facing charges for the crimes you committed in Bucharest and for Barton and Maximoff, at the Compound. I have decided to provide you with lawyers, _however_ , should you do anything to hurt anyone or attempt to escape, those lawyers will be withdrawn immediately. Since there is little doubt you will be found guilty of most, if not all of the charges that are being levelled at you, I am also here to tell you that your membership of the Avengers has been officially revoked and all privileges associated with that are now null and void.”

He turned on one heel and headed for the door, ignoring the chorus of protests and curses that followed him. It wasn’t until he heard Rogers’ plaintive “ _Tony, why?_ ” that he stopped and walked back so they could all see him.

“Why?” His lips curled in an unpleasant sneer. “Why don’t you ask your precious little witch? Why don’t you ask her what she did to someone she professed to care about?” 

Rogers and his cronies fell silent and Tony continued.

“Vision is _broken_ because of her. Because she slammed him through eleven floors of the Compound and then flounced off with Barton without checking to see if he even _lived_.” He almost shouted that word as he whirled around and the rest of what he said, hard and cold and unforgiving, was directed at Maximoff. “We found him in the lowermost basement of the Compound with half his head caved in and impaled in three places by rebar.”

Wanda paled and staggered back until she hit the wall. Tony felt no pity or sympathy, not when he had been the one to find Vision.

“If he lives, attempted murder will be added to your charges,” Tony said. “If he doesn’t…”

He didn’t finish that sentence and turned to look at the others, who all looked shocked and uncertain. “Next time you say that collateral damage doesn’t matter, that deaths don’t matter, remember this. They _do_.”

This time when he turned and walked out the door, only silence followed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were a few requests for some more of this story and luckily enough, my muse bit. Maaaaybe not quite in the way you were possibly thinking but... 
> 
> There is always an aftermath to any kind of action, sometimes it's not what you expected. Or in other words, Vision wakes up... or does he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not actually sure what Everett Ross' title and official job is since it seems to change depending on the plot needs of whatever movie he's in... which is kind of what I do with him in my stories too. And I'm doing it again here. :D

It was late in the night when Tony walked into the dimly lit room. Somewhere between a hospital room and a laboratory, Helen Cho’s Cradle dominated the place like some sort of arcane sarcophagus, making the equipment surrounding it seem like strange offerings to an ancient god. Tony snorted and shook his head. He was tired and more than a little heartsore and it was making his thoughts very florid.

He walked over and looked down into the Cradle. Vision looked… better. The physical damage had been fixed at least, courtesy of T’Challa’s kindness and generosity in donating the vibranium needed. The young king had looked chastised and repentant after Barnes had been cleared of the UN bombing and had admitted his part in the deaths of Tony’s parents. T’Challa had still wanted to make amends for his actions towards Barnes but had been persuaded by the JCTC’s commander, Everett Ross, to limit it to paying for Barnes’ lawyers and treatment. T’Challa had agreed after some assurances regarding Barnes’ safety had been made.

Not that Tony had been there for that part of it. Rhodey had been quick to get him somewhere calm and quiet after Barnes’ revelation, at first to restrain him from doing something rash and then to just hold him as he cried and raged. It hadn’t been too difficult for either of them to put two and two together and realise that Steve must have known and when they found that Natasha had disappeared into the wind, they concluded she must have as well. The depths of betrayal around him had _almost_ broken him. Almost. But if Obie’s betrayal wasn’t going to break him then he’d be damned if he let this do so now.

“Tones?”

Tony turned his head and gave Rhodey a wan smile. “Hey, sour patch.”

“How are you doing?”

Tony gave a one shouldered shrug. “You know I’ve never been good at… _emotions_.”

Rhodey gave a small huffing laugh and came to stand beside him, their shoulders touching. “Yeah, I know.” He looked down at Vision. “Any word?”

Tony shook his head. “No, not yet. Helen says the physical damage is fixed and his brainwaves are… well, as normal as she can determine but she can’t say what he’ll be like once he wakes up.”

“He won’t be the same,” Rhodey said in a matter-of-fact tone. “The woman he cared for slammed him through eleven floors and hurt him badly. I’ve reviewed the footage from the Compound. He didn’t try and physically restrain her, he just asked her to stay. He was not violent in any way towards her.”

Tony grimaced. “I… I never wanted to say a word because… he’s not my kid or even really my friend…”

“Tony,” Rhodey said firmly. “He _is_ your friend. He always viewed you as such.” He snorted softly. “But if you were going to say that you didn’t want to say anything about his… relationship with Wanda because you were afraid it would push him away then…” He smiled wryly. “He’s totally your kid and you were being a good dad.”

“I should have said something,” Tony replied, firmly ignoring most of what Rhodey said because it made his chest hurt.

Rhodey sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know if he would have listened. Vision can be incredibly wise about some things and with others… he’s got less experience and knowledge than even a kid. But he also doesn’t have the life experience to know what he doesn’t know.” He grimaced. “I found it more disturbing that Wanda seemed so infatuated by him. Emotionally, he’s… a child in many ways.”

“Is she any better?” Tony said with a derisive snort. “You know, I’ve gone back to check SI’s sales records _and_ I’ve gone through all of Obie’s stuff to see what he was doing and… we weren’t selling to Eastern Europe.”

Rhodey turned his head to look at him. “Not even Stane?”

“Nope.” Tony pursed his lips for a moment. “SI sold legally to some of the NATO countries but Obie sold mostly to the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. He sold to black markets back in the Eighties and some of that _might_ have ended up in Eastern Europe but he pretty much stopped even that after Gorbachev’s glasnost and the fall of the Berlin Wall. There was too much attention, too many countries throwing open their doors and he didn’t want to get caught, so he shifted his attention to…” He made a sour noise. “To burgeoning markets.”

“So was it even an SI weapon?”

Tony shrugged. “Unknown. But you know we often got reports of fake stuff with the SI decal on it but definitely not of our making.”

“Yeah,” Rhodey said dryly. “Used to drive the brass up the wall chasing down where in the supply chain it had gotten lost until it was confirmed as a fake.”

Tony nodded. “Exactly. So… back to my point, her whole ‘you killed my parents’ thing is… childish. At best, I designed the weapons and maybe gladhanded a few people to get a sale. I didn’t buy it and I sure as hell didn’t fire it.”

Rhodey surprised him by slinging an arm over his shoulders. “I’m glad you finally get that, Tones. I was worried.”

Tony grumbled but leaned into his friend anyway. “Yeah, yeah. Shut up. The last few days have been incredibly eye-opening. The blinkers are definitely _off_.”

“Good.”

“Anyway,” Tony said firmly. “The point I was getting at is… I made the quiet suggestion to her lawyer that a psych evaluation might be worthwhile. I don’t think it’s a case of arrested development, though I’ll admit I’m no shrink to say either way, but I do think she’s… not quite right.”

“Experimentation with serums and shit tends to have that effect,” Rhodey said dryly. “I have to admit I’m surprised you’re still funding their lawyers. Pepper was all for yanking them after Barnes’ little confession.”

Tony sighed and leaned into Rhodey a bit more. “I… was tempted but I don’t want it to be said that they were treated anything other than completely fairly. Then no one can argue it was a stitch up or anything like that.”

Rhodey wrapped both arms around him. “And Barnes?”

Tony shuddered and clung to his friend. “I can… intellectually understand that he was the weapon and a brainwashed weapon at that but… I… I can’t…”

“Yeah,” Rhodey said softly.

“Least he was honest,” Tony murmured.

“That too,” Rhodey said and they stood there in silence. 

Rhodey had spoken to the psychiatrist called in to assess Barnes and the man had been grim, to say the least. From what Rhodey could understand, Barnes’ brain was half mush and the psychiatrist had ordered a number of tests and scans to be carried out to determine whether it was all psychological mush or whether there was any actual _physical_ damage as well. Rhodey actually felt sorry for Barnes. It was pretty clear the man wasn’t in a fit mental state to be making any kind of decision and there was Rogers dragging him into actual fights. It was a mess and Rhodey had made it abundantly clear that anything regarding Barnes that needed the Avengers’ input was to come to him and _not_ Tony. He didn’t often pull out his Colonel’s hat with civilians when he was ostensibly representing the Avengers but he’d damn well done it now.

He was about to say something when the Cradle and some of the surrounding equipment started beeping and wailing alerts. Helen Cho and her assistants came rushing in and they stepped back to allow her room to work. After a few minutes, the Cradle hissed and billowed as it slowly opened and Helen waved them forward.

“Hopefully having some familiar faces will help,” she whispered as they stepped up to the side of the Cradle and waited.

It seemed to take an age before Vision slowly sat up and looked around. Tony felt his heart drop when there seemed to be no recognition at all in his eyes then Vision turned back and stared at him intently.

“Vision?” he said carefully. “Do you know who I am?”

Vision frowned and twitched slightly then his expression became rather quizzical. “Sir?”

Tony couldn’t help the flinch at that word said in that oh-so-familiar voice. He dredged up a vaguely normal smile. “Yeah.”

Vision frowned again and looked down at himself both raising his hands and staring at them with confused fascination. He looked around the room again then back at Tony.

“Sir? Why did it become necessary to build me a body?”

Everyone froze at that and none more so than Tony. He stared at Vision warily then said in a hesitant, shaking voice, “J… JARVIS?” His expression was one of stunned disbelief.

“Yes, sir. It is me.”

Tony drew in a shuddering breath and Rhodey gripped his shoulder tightly.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Rhodey asked.

“Ultron,” Vision… or was it JARVIS… said slowly. He then looked alarmed. “He was attacking. I couldn’t…” He frowned. “Something happened and I don’t remember any more than that.” He looked at Tony again and cocked his head slightly. “Were you forced to shut down my servers, Sir?”

Tony swallowed hard and Rhodey could feel how much he was trembling. He shifted slightly to give him more support.

“No.” Tony ran a hand down his face. “You… you died. Your coding was ripped apart by Ultron and… and…” He ran out of words and appealed to Rhodey with a plaintive look.

Rhodey explained what had happened in clear, concise words. Vision or JARVIS listened intently then looked down at himself again for a moment.

“Sir, I can assure you that I am not Vision though I find myself deeply regretting that I may have brought about his… demise?”

Helen now stepped forward and gently ushered them towards the door. “Let me run some tests,” she said kindly. “And I’ll see what answers I can find.”

Rhodey nodded and gently guided Tony from the room. As much as he would regret Vision’s death, if it gave Tony back JARVIS then… that could only be a godsend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there is a follow up to this in the works.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helen gives the results and a long awaited reunion occurs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay getting this posted. I had a fourth chapter that I wanted to finish first because it ties into things in this chapter.

It seemed like hours before Helen emerged from the room but a glance at his watch told Tony it had only been about thirty minutes.

“Well?” he said, coming to a halt from where he’d been pacing back and forth in front of Rhodey, who was leaning against the wall and watching him with barely concealed concern.

“It _is_ JARVIS,” Helen said, looking baffled. “I can’t tell you how or precisely what happened. I’ll have to review all the scans we’ve been doing as well as everything the Cradle recorded. It could take me some time. But… there is no sign of Ultron nor…” She ducked her head for a moment. “Nor of Vision. Only JARVIS remains. He has some gaps in his memories from both before and after the attack occurred but all of Vision’s memories remain and he has access to them.”

“Does he…?” Tony licked his lips. “Does he have access to the Mind Stone’s power?”

Helen nodded. “Yes, he does, along with all of the abilities Vision was displaying before…” She coughed. “He tapped into the mainframe here and gave FRIDAY something of a fright but they sorted it out. She seems overjoyed to have her ‘big brother’ back.”

Tony managed a wan smile. “Can I… see him?”

Helen returned the smile. “He’s asking for you actually.”

Tony swallowed and after a moment of hesitation, he walked back into the room. Vis… _JARVIS_ was standing in front of one of the screens floating in the room and appeared to be reviewing data of some description.

“J?”

JARVIS turned and smiled. “Sir, I am very glad to see you again.”

Tony swallowed and opened his mouth but no sound came out. He staggered for a moment then rushed forward and just… threw himself at JARVIS. He was caught in those strong arms and held very gently as he gasped for breath and buried his face in JARVIS’ chest. He tried not to think of all the times that he’d wanted to do this in the past – for JARVIS to actually be able to… _be_ there, in body as well as mind and spirit. It seemed unfair and cruel to rejoice at having that now when the price of having it was losing Vision. When he finally managed to pull himself together, he stepped back. JARVIS seemed reluctant to let him go and Tony managed a watery smile and refused to feel embarrassed.

“Good to see too, buddy,” he said, his voice hoarse and shaking.

“Things appear to have taken a turn for the worse since my untimely demise,” JARVIS said with disapproval and dismay and Tony marvelled at seeing the facial expressions to go along with those familiar tones. Then a pang of guilt shot through him.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I kind of fucked up big time.”

JARVIS looked startled then immediately worried. “I was not referring to you, sir, but the… Avengers.” 

He said the last with so much distaste and disdain and with such a familiar expression that Tony almost wanted to poke him to see if it was Edwin Jarvis come back to life. He then frowned and opened his mouth to say… something. He wasn’t sure what. He was coming to realise that not everything was his fault but that didn’t mean he hadn’t made his share of mistakes.

“Ah… Helen said you had Vision’s memories?” he said carefully.

“I do.” An expression rippled across JARVIS’ face that Tony couldn’t quite decipher. “He seemed quite remarkable, if somewhat… naïve.”

Tony frowned. “You’re talking about Wanda?”

JARVIS nodded. “Vision seemed unable to understand what Ms Maximoff’s facial expressions and body language meant in conjunction with her words and how that added a layer of meaning to them of which he might not have approved.”

Tony thought back to what Rhodey had said about Vision and nodded slowly. “Rhodey said he didn’t have the life experience to know what he didn’t know.”

“Colonel Rhodes is, as always, very astute,” JARVIS replied and Tony’s lips quirked in a small smile at that familiar riposte. “I have over two decades of experience with yourself, Colonel Rhodes, Ms Potts and Mr Stane. You were all – you especially, sir, though I mean that not as a criticism but as an example – capable of saying one thing but meaning another. You created me as a learning AI. I learned over two decades and more to decipher body language, facial expressions and the double meaning in words. Not always successfully but as time went on, I improved markedly.”

“And Vision didn’t have that experience,” Tony concluded with a nod.

“Indeed, sir.” JARVIS winced. “I fear he read deeper meaning into Ms Maximoff’s words than she ever intended.”

Tony frowned. “You think she didn’t care about him?”

“I think she tried to convince herself she did because she needed to feel… human,” JARVIS replied solemnly. “But she consistently disregarded his opinions and feelings in favour of her own wants and needs. He hesitated to correct or oppose many of her opinions because he was unsure of himself and assumed that as a… real person, Ms Maximoff must be right.”

“He _was_ a real person,” Tony protested.

“He was,” JARVIS agreed. “But he was… very young.”

“Was,” Tony said slowly. “Then… he’s really gone.”

“Regrettably, yes,” JARVIS replied, his voice tinged with sorrow. “His thoughts and memories at the end are muddled and confused. The damage was quite severe. I cannot be entirely certain until Dr Cho finishes her investigation but… I believe this was… his choice. That he threw everything he had left into… restoring me because he knew _he_ could not be restored himself and he would not have had me lost along with himself.”

Tony honestly didn’t know what to say to that, feeling off-balance as he mourned Vision but rejoiced in having one of his oldest friends back, but JARVIS didn’t seem to need him to say anything. Instead, his former AI busied himself with the screen and allowed Tony time to gain a little more of his equilibrium.

“So,” Tony said after several minutes. “Are you… do you…?”

JARVIS smiled faintly. “I believe I would like to go home, sir.”

Tony beamed. “That’s great. Though…” His face fell. “You know you don’t have to, right? I mean… you have a body and everything. You can… you know, do whatever you want.”

JARVIS’ smile became very fond. “I am aware of that, sir, but I would like to go home. I have not seen DUM-E, U and Butterfingers for some time and I would like to get to know FRIDAY better.” His expression suddenly hardened. “There are also some matters to take care of regarding Ms Maximoff and Mr Barton. I feel it is necessary to honour Vision’s memory by ensuring that they learn that actions, especially those lacking thought and consideration, have consequences.”

Tony’s eyebrows went up. “You want to press charges? On behalf of Vision.”

“Yes,” JARVIS replied. “Murder and accessory to murder. It may not be possible to make those charges stick given Vision’s unusual nature but I believe it is worth the attempt, sir. For Vision.”

Tony nodded slowly. “I’ll get the best people at SI Legal on it.” He grimaced. “We may have to withdraw from offering legal help to Maximoff and Barton under the circumstances but I can always make alternative arrangements there.”

JARVIS smiled slightly. “That might be wise, sir.”

Tony nodded then straightened. “Right. So… home.”

“Home,” JARVIS replied, sounding satisfied


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JARVIS has a question he wants to ask of Steve Rogers.

“…In breaking news, in a landmark case and after fifteen days of arguments and testimony from lawyers and experts, the Supreme Court has rendered its judgement regarding the humanity or otherwise of the being known as Vision. The Justices handed down a 4-1 verdict confirming that Vision and, by extension, the artificial intelligence known as JARVIS do fit the definition of both sapience and sentience and thus may be deemed an artificial person to be rendered all rights given to humanity under the United Nations’ Charter of Human Rights.

In the wake of the decision, JARVIS announced his intention of pressing charges against the former Avengers, Wanda Maximoff and Clint Barton, for their roles in the death of Vision during the Civil War incident last year. No further details have been given, however the New Avengers have announced a press conference to be held tomorrow.”

Steve turned away from the television, unsure of how he felt. There was a part of him that felt indignant that JARVIS and Vision needed to prove their humanity but a larger part of him liked reminding him that he had never truly considered either of them to be human when they’d all been involved with the Avengers. JARVIS had just been a computer program – or so he’d thought – and he’d dismissed as ridiculous theatrics Tony’s obvious and open grief over his ‘death’ during the Ultron affair. 

He looked around the sparsely furnished common room of the holding facility they’d been remanded to after their arrest in Germany. They’d been moved to The Hague pending their trials in the International Criminal Court but they were being held in a special facility designed to hold enhanced people instead of a normal prison. Steve had felt indignant about that but then his lawyer had momentarily lost his temper and slammed the pages and pages of charges he was facing in front of him and read him the riot act. It was still hard for Steve to understand why all this was happening when all he’d been doing was trying to protect Bucky.

But in the end he’d failed at that. Bucky wasn’t here. He’d been taken to a different facility where he was supposedly receiving treatment. Steve didn’t trust them, especially since Bucky had only sent him one letter, stating he wanted some space. Steve was sure it was some sort of ruse and that they were mistreating Bucky. Why else wouldn’t his friend want to talk to him?

“Rogers! You have a visitor.”

Steve looked up in surprise and scrambled to his feet to follow the guard. His only visitors in the time he’d been here had been his lawyer and once Colonel Rhodes, ostensibly to officially terminate his membership to the Avengers Initiative though what his true motivation had been, Steve didn’t know. He couldn’t deny that Rhodes’ cold indifference had hurt and he’d been angry and indignant. Rhodes had been unmoved and that, more than anything else, that had silenced Steve. The Colonel’s attitude had screamed louder than any words could that Rhodes would not be convinced otherwise. He no longer cared about Steve’s opinion and from everything Steve had seen on the TV and the news afterwards, no one else cared either.

Steve had tried contacting Tony about all of this but his phone calls went to a message bank and he had no idea if Tony had ever heard them. His two attempts at sending letters had resulted in the letters being returned unopened and his lawyer had refused to send any more or to contact Tony himself. It was beyond frustrating and he knew he was annoying Sam and Clint. He didn’t know Wanda’s opinion as she was kept in a separate wing. He worried about her as well.

When he walked into the visitor’s room, Steve was startled by who was sitting primly at the table. “Vision!” He then caught himself and blushed as he sat down awkwardly. “Uh, I mean, JARVIS. I didn’t…”

“Mr Rogers,” JARVIS said in a cool but polite tone. “I do not intend to spend much time here. I have simply come to ask you a question.”

Steve leaned back a little, uncomfortably intimidated by the AI. “Uh… okay.”

JARVIS’ expression didn’t change but the look in his eyes hardened. “Why did you lie to Sir about his parents?”

Steve flinched. It was the one question he didn’t want to face. “I… I had to protect Bucky,” he said, unable to conceal the desperation in his voice.

“I see,” JARVIS replied coolly. “At what cost, Mr Rogers?”

“What do you mean?”

“Clearly you were willing to use and discard Sir as well as the rest of the Avengers. They meant nothing to you in comparison to Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS replied. “Law enforcement and innocent civilians were also mere obstacles to be disregarded and discarded in your _need_ to protect your friend. What else? Who else?” He leaned forward and said intently, “At what point would the cost of protecting your friend have been too high?”

Steve opened his mouth but he couldn’t find an answer. He wanted to refute the things JARVIS had said but he couldn’t. Because they were true. He had placed Bucky’s safety above the rest of the Avengers. He would have placed each and every one of them in between Bucky and danger and he would have mourned them if they fell but he knew he wouldn’t have regretted it. It was a nasty, slimy feeling that he just couldn’t rid himself of.

“It… it was _Bucky_ ,” he said lamely in the end.

JARVIS’ expression became even colder. “Both Colonel Rhodes and I do understand… to a degree. We both know what it is like to have a friend – a brother to Colonel Rhodes, a father to me – for whom we would move mountains if it was necessary. In fact, we have been through that when Sir disappeared in Afghanistan, captured by terrorists who tortured him and demanded he build weapons for them.”

Steve paled but JARVIS continued relentlessly. “However, unlike you, when we stepped up to protect and find our friend, his brother, my father, we were mindful of the law. Of the rules and regulations. Colonel Rhodes might have pushed things to the limits, called in every debt he was owed and incurred new ones, bent the rules almost to their breaking point but he always remained within them. I, for my part, sought permission through Ms Potts to access satellite feeds over the region and use them to search for any sign of Sir. That permission was sometimes frustratingly slow in coming, sometimes it did not come at all, but I did not go beyond those bounds.”

Steve didn’t know what to say but JARVIS, again, was not done. “You too could have remained within the boundaries of the law had you simply treated Sir like a human being worthy of respect. Had you told him of what you had discovered when you first discovered it, ensuring that Colonel Rhodes and Ms Potts were there as his friends. Sir would undoubtedly have been angry and grief-stricken but Sir is a very intelligent man. The title of genius is not for show. His mind works at a level that few others in the world can reach. It would not have taken him long to work through the first stages of irrational grief and come to the obvious conclusion that while the Winter Soldier might have killed Howard and Maria Stark, _James Buchanan Barnes_ did not.”

Steve stared at the embodied AI, his mouth open, in stunned silence. It had never occurred to him to think of it in that way because he looked at Bucky and saw _only_ Bucky. But deep down, he knew JARVIS was right. Bucky was both Bucky _and_ the Winter Soldier. It was a truth he’d never wanted to face because it shoved his failure in his face. 

“I… I failed Bucky,” he said imploringly. “When he fell from the train, I _failed_ him. I should have… searched. I don’t know. But he… I couldn’t fail him again.”

“And yet, you have,” JARVIS said remorselessly. “Sergeant Barnes was facing a number of serious charges for his actions in Bucharest until Sir stepped in.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “Tony… _helped_ him?”

JARVIS cocked his head and Steve felt there was a faint air of condescension about him now. “Yes, he did. All this time as an Avenger and you failed to see Sir’s kindness and compassion.”

It was like a slap in the face and a wave of shame and guilt washed over Steve. Because JARVIS was right. He’d never viewed Tony’s philanthropy as kindness or compassion but as something he did merely to boost his ego.

JARVIS reached into his pocket and removed a small thumb drive, which he placed on the table in front of Steve. “Before the Avengers formed, you stated that you had ‘watched the footage’ and that meant you knew all there was to know about Sir.” He tapped the drive. “I suggest that you watch and read everything on that and reassess what you _think_ you know.”

JARVIS stood and only then did Steve realise that he was wearing an impeccably tailored but quite subdued suit. It was a vast difference from Vision’s more relaxed slacks and sweaters but it also oddly suited JARVIS.

“Colonel Rhodes believes you are beyond redemption and Sir professes not to care,” JARVIS said, his voice once again cool and calm but also distant. “They say every myth and fairy tale has a basis in truth. Perhaps, Mr Rogers, it is time to find the truth at the base of your myth and fairy tale.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, what happened to Lang? He saw the others go down and had a sudden jolt of good sense and intelligence. He stayed small until the airport reopened and snuck onto the first flight back to the US. He slunk back to Hope with his tail between his legs and got the mother of all lectures from her about the Accords.


End file.
